Donald Trump ‘too afraid’ to visit troops in combat zones, report says

Donald Trump is reportedly too “afraid” to visit American troops in combat zones.

The comment was made in private to aides after several news outlets began questioning why the president had not made time to visit soldiers as previous presidents have done in Afghanistan, where the US is still at war, and Iraq.

An unnamed official told the Washington Post: “He’s never been interested in going. He’s afraid of those situations. He’s afraid people want to kill him.”

Mr Trump has offered other reasons for his lack of visits, even as he touts his commitment to the military.

Part of the reason, according to some in the administration, is that he does not want to associate his presidency with wars or operations he feels are failures.

According to the newspaper, the unnamed official said although Mr Trump signed off on defence secretary James Mattis’ request for increasing US presence in Afghanistan and Syria, while maintaining its presence in Iraq, in private meetings he had called the operations “a total shame”.

He also told the Associated Press that though he would ultimately end up visiting combat zones, he did not feel it was “overly necessary”.

“I’ve been very busy with everything that’s taking place here….I’m doing a lot of things. I’m doing a lot of things,” he said.

Critics have pointed out the president has made time for frequent trips to his various golf courses, Mar-a-Lago, and nearly daily viewing of Fox News programmes.

He did tell Fox News in a recent interview: “There are things that are being planned. We don’t want to talk about it because of security reasons and everything else.”

But, he noted: “I’ve had an unbelievably busy schedule, on top of which you have these phoney witch hunts.”

During the interview, Mr Trump repeated his lie about not supporting the US war in Iraq; he had initially supported the 2003 US invasion.

He told journalist Chris Wallace: “I think it was a tremendous mistake, should never have happened."

Mr Wallace responded: “But this is about the soldiers, sir”.

The president then said: “I don’t think anybody’s been more with the military than I have, as a president. In terms of funding, in terms of all of the things I’ve been able to get them, including the vets.”

The administration has pushed through the largest US defence budget but his relationship with the US military is more complicated than just being “with” them.

Mr Trump has frequently questioned military decisions made in the past as he recently hit out at former US Central Command head, Retired Admiral William McCraven.

The president chastised him for being a supporter of Hillary Clinton and claimed Osama bin Laden should have been caught sooner in Pakistan than he was.

Many veterans were offended by the president’s unusual decision to skip a ceremony service on the outskirts of Paris meant to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

He cited rain and bad weather as the reason and then blamed the Secret Service, who he claimed told him the traffic in Paris would not allow it.

Several presidents have attended similar ceremonies despite the traffic and weather conditions.

He also declined to visit Arlington National Ceremony, just minutes away from the White House, for a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on 11 November, Veterans’ Day.

Barack Obama also visited Iraq, despite expressing his opposition to the continued war in 2009. He also spent most of the eight Veterans’ Days during his two terms with US troops either in Washington or around the world.

Both George HW Bush and George W Bush also spent Thanksgiving Day with troops in Iraq during their presidencies.